Railway-rail joint.



H. M. COSEY.

RAILWAY RAIL JQINT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1907. RENEWED 512m. 3, 1908.

905,849. Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

vweni oz 'Fig. 1.

UNITED sTAtrns PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY M. COSEY, OF STERLING, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO SAMUEL WETZELL, OFSTERLING,

ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-RAIL JomT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8', 1908.

Application filed March 11, 1907, Serial No. 361,783. Renewed September3, 1908. Serial No. 451,573.-

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY M. CosE-Y, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sterling, in the county of Whiteside and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-RailJoints; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in theart to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to joints for railway rails, and deals morespecially with a new and useful form of the fish-plates by which theends of two adjacent rails are held in place.

By the use of my device a solid joint is secured, wherein the fishlatesengage the rails throughout the entire ength of such (plates, and at thesame time a force is exerte upon the bolts by which the parts are heldto-' gether which prevents the loosening of the nuts thereon, and alsocompensates for any wear u on the bolt-heads or nuts.

e the invention, as a means for holding the ends of the rails in place,is as efiective as joints which are commonly in use, its productioncalls for the use of less material than is required in the ordinaryfish-plate, and without any sacrifice of strength or durability.

The eculiar construction and operation of my evice will more fullyappear in the following specification, reference being had to thedrawings accompanying the same, wherein Figure 1 is a lan view with thevertical portion of the rai in section, before the tightening of thejoint. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the parts drawn together as in use.Fig. 3.is a side elevation of the joint. Fig. 4 is a verticalcross-section in the line wx of Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section inthe line y--'y of Fig. 2.

Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the several figures.

1 represents the base of the rail, 2 the vertical portion, and 3 thetread thereof, the ends of two adjoining rails being shown in the firstthree figures.

4 is the fish-plate, provided with a flange 5, resting on the base ofthe rail. The plates 7 bolts.

4 are secured to the rails and to each other in the usual manner bymeans of bolts 6 passin through perforations in the fish-plates ancorresponding holes in the rails at each side of the junction thereof.

On each side of the point where the ends of the rails contact the innerface of the late 4 is provided with a recess 7, of su cient length toembrace two or more of the bolts 6, whereby that portion of the platewhich is cut away to form the recess is rendered sufli ciently flexibleto permit the drawing of the same inwardly upon the tightening of theThe width of the recesses 7 gradually decreases toward the ends thereof,and also towards the bottom, and when the bolts 6 are sufiicientlytightened the faces of the recesses 7 are in contact with the verticalportion 2 of the rail throughout such faces, forming a continuous engaement of the rails by the inner face of the sh-plate, as shown in Figs.2 and 5. This forms a solid and rigid joint, which is greatly to bedesired in railway rail connections of this kind.

The plate 4 is preferably formed of metal possessing a certain amount offlexibility, so that when the bolts 6 have been fully tightened byaction of the nuts thereon, the tendency of that part of the fishlatesurrounding the bolts will be outward y, thus bearing upon the innerfaces of the heads of the bolts and the nuts thereon. However,fish-plates of the same general form which are now in use can beprovided with the recesses 7, and will be operative to a certain extent.

A common fault with joints of this class is found in the bolts whichhold the parts together becoming loose, through wearing of the artscaused by rust or other means. It is obvious that in my invention thisdifficulty is overcome through the outward force exerted on the headsand nuts of the bolts at all times by that portion of the plate 4 inwhich they are seated.

The under side of the tread 3 of the rail is usually provided with abevel inwardly and downwardly, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and the upperedge of the plate 4 provided with a corresponding bevel, in order toform a close engagement of the rail. In order that that portion of theplate 4 which is provided with the recess 7 may be drawn inwardlywithout interference from the rail it is therefore necessary to formslight recesses 8 in the upper reak in the rails, and I prefer to formthe recesses 7 of sufficient length to embrace both of the bolts on thesame side of the break, in order that that portion of the plate which iscut away to form the recess may have the requisite amount of spring. Toprovide each of such bolts with a recess corresponding to the recesses 7would not be feasible.

If desired, the joint can be provided on one side of the rail with mydevice and on the other side with the older style of plate, but it ispreferable to use my invention on both sides of the rail, as shown inthe figures, by which means double the amount of force is exerted on thebolts 6 as is attained by the use of the single plate.

When the plate 4 is first placed in position its inner face engages thevertical portion of the rail at all points except where the recesses 7are provided, and in tightening the bolts the inward movement of thatpart of the plate which has been cut away is greatest at the upper edgethereof, the lower part of the plate 4 having very little movement. Thusany danger of such plate breaking away from the flange 5 is obviated. Itwill also be seen that the use of the flange 5 is not necessary to thesuccessful operation of the device.

ceases What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is:

1. A railway rail joint, comprisinga fishplate, adapted to hold in placethe ends of two adjacent rails, and provided on its inner face with apair of recesses, each of such recesses including all of the bolts onone side of the rail joint; said plate being further provided in itsupper edge with a pair of recesses, corresponding in position with saidfirstnamed recesses, and permitting those portions of said plate whichare adjacent to the recesses to be drawn inwardly into contact with therails, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a railway rail joint,a plate 4, adapted to hold in position theends of two adj acent rails, and provided on its inner face with arecess 7, formed to include two or more of the bolts 6 by which saidplate 4 and the rails are united; said plate being further provided inits upper edge with a recess 8, adjacent to the recess 7, and permittingthat portion of the plate 4 which surrounds the bolts 6 to be drawninwardly into contact with the rail, substantially as shown and setforth.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

HENRY M. COSEY Witnesses:

SAMUEL WETZELL, I. L. WEAVER.

